Dry Ice Blast Cleaning Increases Productivity, Reduces Risk for Wood Industry

PRLog (Press Release) – Mar 12, 2008 – CINCINNATI – Traditional manual methods of cleaning wood presses, blades and other equipment used in the wood products industry can be disruptive, labor intensive and dangerous processes. Cleaning the hot and dusty residues from the wood processing equipment usually involves a maintenance crew working a number of hours during a regular scheduled maintenance shift. Often, the cleaning requires the facilities to shut down their operations, while the workers have to disassemble machines and work closely with potentially dangerous residues and equipment. Even then, tough to reach parts of the equipment may not get cleaned.

A proven alternative to manual cleaning methods is Cold Jet’s dry ice blast cleaning, which uses compressed air to accelerate dry ice pellets and particles to create mini-explosions on the surface of the equipment being cleaned. The dry ice pellets vaporize upon impact, leaving no other cleaning by-product, and eliminating the added cost and inconvenience of secondary waste treatment and disposal. Cold Jet’s cleaning systems are environmentally friendly, clean up to four times faster than the traditional cleaning methods, and are safer and more cost-effective than conventional cleaning solutions.

“With our cleaning systems, mills, panel manufacturers and other wood products companies can clean equipment faster and without placing employees at risk,” said Gene Cooke, CEO of Cold Jet, LLC. “Unlike other cleaning methods, including other blast cleaning processes, dry ice blasting does not contain any secondary contaminants or produce any secondary waste. The cleaning process is safe for the environment, and in this era of lean and green, Cold Jet systems provides cleaning systems that will complement companies’ efforts to be more environmentally conscious.”

In many wood products manufacturing environments, maintenance workers have to clean very hot equipment, as well as potentially harmful residues and chemicals. Dry ice blast cleaning allows the workers to clean the equipment from a safe distance and without physically touching the hot surfaces or by-products. Among the proven applications for Cold Jet dry ice blasting in the wood products industry are OSB presses, sanding belts, dryers, applicators, saws and blades, ducts and equipment exposed to pitch and resin.

“Dry ice blasting actually extends the useful life of equipment by facilitating regular thorough cleaning,” added Cooke. “And clean equipment helps to produce better quality product, which will impact the bottom line. In addition, when using Cold Jet’s systems, manufacturing equipment will be off-line less frequently, allowing companies to increase production and improve productivity.”

For more information on products manufactured by Cold Jet, please call 1-800-337-9423 or visit www.coldjet.com.